DePauw Theatre season to open Oct. 9-12 with 'Parade'

Lucille Frank (Julie Strauser) and Leo Frank (Joey Leppek) embrace in a scene from the DePauw Theatre production of the dramatic musical "Parade," set for Oct. 9-12 at Moore Theatre.

DePauw University Theatre will open its 2014-15 season with the Tony Award-winning musical "Parade," which dramatizes the 1913 trial of Leo Frank, a Jewish factory manager, for the alleged rape and murder of a 13-year-old employee, Mary Phagan.

DPU junior Julie Strauser portrays Lucille Frank with senior Joey Leppek as Leo Frank)

Under the direction of Tim Good, professor of communication and theatre and director of theatre, "Parade" delves into the anti-Semitism which surrounded Frank's trial and circulated in the South during the early 1900s.

The musical opens Thursday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m. in Moore Theatre of the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts. Subsequent performances will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10 and 11 with a final performance on Sunday, Oct. 12 at 2 p.m.

The production is not recommended for children under the age of 13.

Written by Alfred Uhry with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown, the musical leaves no stone unturned.

Issues from the early 1900s abound in "Parade" -- anti-Semitism, racism, provincialism and blind hate -- all stemming from the lynching of Frank two years after the trial's beginning. Having bypassed the death sentence, Frank was sentenced to life in prison and transferred to a prison in Midgeville, Ga. There, a lynching party kidnapped Frank and took him to Marietta, Phagan's hometown, to hang him from a tree. Tensions were high, and the country was watching.

A panel discussion about the issues involved is scheduled at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 3 in Moore Theatre. The panel will feature artists and scholars from the areas of music, theatre, religion and Jewish studies.

The musical portrays the full sequence of events surrounding Frank's trial with Phagan's murder and Frank's lynching providing the beginning and end, respectively. "Parade" also emphasizes the relationship between Frank and his wife Lucille, with songs such as "Leo at Work/What am I Waiting for?" and "Do it Alone." A sense of romance in the face of adversity makes the injustice of Frank's death all the more real for the audience.

Finally, the musical is not afraid to come to its own conclusions, decidedly portraying the villains as Hugh Dorsey, the prosecutor, and Tom Watson, the publisher.

Under the direction of Harold Prince, "Parade" premiered on Broadway on Dec. 17, 1998. It received nine Tony Award nominations and won for Best Book and Best Original Score. It also received six Drama Desk awards.

The success of the musical led to a U.S. national tour and countless professional and amateur productions around the world.

Tickets for "Parade" are $3 for students and $6 for adults. To purchase tickets, visit brownpapertickets.com/event/865906.